Ruthless (The Seraphim Series Book 2) (15 page)

Lilliah got out. “What if she’s not happy that we’re here?”

Rebecca shrugged.

“What if she somehow turned off her powers and doesn’t use them anymore?”

Rebecca shrugged again.

“Yeah, you need to stop shrugging.”

“Well, what else am I supposed to do?” Rebecca walked up to the main door. “Whatever happens, we can’t just sit in the car forever. I’d literally kill you.”

Lilliah shook her head and tried the door. It was locked.

“I’m being serious,” Rebecca continued. “I think I could kill you, get caught, do time, and still have a great life.”

Lilliah turned to look at her friend. “You need to be serious. This is a serious issue.”

“Yeah, I know. But we don’t have a key.” Just as the words left Rebecca’s mouth, the door opened and a pretty redhead walked out.

She eyed them suspiciously and made a point of closing the door behind her. “Can I help you?”

“Yes.” Rebecca nodded but didn’t say anything else.

“With?” The girl wasn’t smiling, her eyes bouncing from Lilliah to Rebecca.

“We’re just looking for someone.” Lilliah tried to gauge whether the girl in front of them was the Iris they were looking for. Would it seem strange if they just came out and asked?

“Her name’s Iris,” Rebecca blurted. “Do you know her?”

The redhead folded her arms.

“She’s my neighbour.” Her face got a little less suspicious and a little bitchier. “She’s strange. Stays in most days.”

“That’s actually really perfect for us.” Rebecca’s smile had vanished. “What number does she live at?”

“Number four.” Without another word, the girl turned and walked away.

“Nice meeting you?” Rebecca called out sarcastically and then turned to Lilliah. “Didn’t like her. Didn’t like her one bit.”

Lilliah walked over to the door and pressed the number four on the intercom.

“Hello?” a voice asked through the speaker.

“Oh, hi.” Lilliah leaned in, not one hundred per cent sure what she would say yet. “Is this Iris Walker?”

“Yeah,” the girl on the other end answered hesitantly. “Can I help you with anything?”

Lilliah turned to Rebecca and mouthed, “Little help.”

Rebecca stepped forward. “Hi, Iris. I’m Rebecca and I’m here with my friend. We have some questions about your family.”

Lilliah covered the speaker with her hand and whispered, “You make us sound like the damn FBI!”

Rebecca rolled her eyes.

“You have questions about my family?” Iris asked. “Sorry, I can’t help much. I’ve never met my family.”

Lilliah inhaled sharply as Rebecca covered her mouth with her hand. Iris had never met her family, which meant she was either an orphan or had been put up for adoption—neither option was great.

“Oh shit,” Rebecca whispered, taking a few steps back. Lilliah grabbed her arm and pulled her forward.

“It’s for a college project.” Once again, Lilliah had no idea what she was saying until the words had come out of her mouth. “If we could just ask you a few questions?”

Iris didn’t speak. Rebecca stood with her head in her hands.

“Hello?” Lilliah tried again.

“So you’re doing a class project on my family?” Iris didn’t sound convinced. “Why?”

“Well, because …” Lilliah’s eyes widened at Rebecca. “Because we’re retracing an old Scottish family back to their roots. They’re almost like royals.”

Rebecca’s mouth hung open. Lilliah tried not to look at her friend.

“Royalty?” Iris sounded as shocked as Rebecca looked.

“Yes.” Lilliah bit her lip. “We’ve come all the way from England.”

The door buzzed to let them in.

“Royalty?” Rebecca repeated as they walked up the stairs. “She’s a goddamn orphan, Lilliah, and you’re holding words like royalty over her? You need to fix this.”

A few seconds later, they were in Iris’s small flat, sitting opposite her. She was smaller than Lilliah, around five foot three, and a little rounder. Her brown hair was tied to the side in a lose bun and she was wearing a ripped pair of jeans. She was slightly tanned, with a few freckles dotting her cheeks. She looked completely normal.

“So what can you tell me about my family?” she asked, her huge brown eyes somehow getting bigger.

Rebecca looked at Lilliah pointedly.

“Well,” she began, looking down at her hands more than at anything else. “It’s a project for school. The, erm, the Walker family was very prominent in Scotland back in the 1700s.”

Iris still looked confused while Rebecca looked amused.

“I didn’t know we’d come from Scotland,” Iris said, frowning. “Walker doesn’t sound like a Scottish name.”

“Do you believe in angels, Iris?” Rebecca asked.

Now it was Lilliah’s turn to look at her friend open-mouthed.

Iris blinked a few times and smirked. “That’s random.”

“You don’t say,” Lilliah said, while still trying to kill Rebecca with a look.

“I like your pictures.” Rebecca pointed to a canvas hanging on the wall. The painting featured a small girl lying curled on the floor, with huge white wings sprouting from her back.

“Oh that.” Iris crinkled her nose. “It was here when I moved in. I just haven’t gotten rid of it yet.”

“But do you believe in angels?” Rebecca pressed.

“I don’t believe in angels, no.” She returned her attention to Lilliah. “So, the Walker family came from Scotland?”

“Yes.” She sighed, having no idea how she was going to break the news to this young girl. “Your family was very special and very powerful.”

“Are any of them still alive?” Iris twisted her hands in her lap. She attempted a smile but her eyes were intense.

Lilliah’s heart broke a little. “No.” She whispered the word so quietly she wasn’t sure whether Iris had heard her.

“Oh.” The soft response was Lilliah’s only confirmation that she had heard.

Lilliah stood. “We should leave.”

We shouldn’t be here,
Lilliah thought, already heading for the door. This girl, Iris, had no one.

“What?” Iris shot to her feet, confused. “No, you can stay. I was just …”

Iris reached for Lilliah’s arm, and as soon as she made contact, Iris fainted.

Chapter 12

“I know you didn’t do it intentionally, but I do blame you for this.” Rebecca walked out of Iris’s small kitchen, holding a frozen bag of peas.

Lilliah was pacing. Iris had been out cold for over an hour.

“I want to call Benedict,” she said for at least the twelfth time.

She had no idea what had happened. Iris had just dropped to the floor after touching her arm. Had it been Lilliah’s fault? Or was fainting something Iris did regularly? Lilliah guessed it was more the former, but it didn’t stop her from hoping.

“So you’ve said, but we can’t, remember? We haven’t bought a phone yet, and we’ve already used the one Benedict gave us.” Rebecca bent down and rested the peas over the large bump on Iris’s head. “Dude, she hit the floor so hard. She’s going to have a huge bruise.”

Lilliah sat on the sofa and then stood back up. “I just feel so bad.”

She approached Iris. They had tried to move her, but it turned out the small girl was a lot heavier than they’d thought.

“We were in her life for a minute and she fainted.” Lilliah bit her lip. She’d find it funny if she weren’t in this situation.

“It’s nearly two o’clock. We have to meet Seb soon.” Rebecca chewed her bottom lip, thinking. “I say we try water one more time. If she doesn’t wake up, then one of us should head out to meet Seb.”

Lilliah looked at the girl’s soaking wet T-shirt. They’d already thrown water on her repeatedly. It hadn’t worked, and she doubted it would work now, but it was better than doing nothing.

“What if I put her in some kind of magical trance?” Lilliah asked. “What if she never wakes up?”

Rebecca looked confused. “Why and how would you do that?”

“I don’t know!” Lilliah stressed, dropping to the floor. “How and why does that blue fire stuff come out of my hands, hmm?” She sounded a little hysterical. “Stuff just happens. That’s why!”

Iris stirred on the floor, her eyes still closed.

“Doesn’t look like a spell to me.” Rebecca got down on her knees and moved back to give Iris some space. “Hey there,” she whispered as Iris slowly opened her eyes.

Lilliah had backed away on the floor, not wanting a repeat performance.

“Wh-what happened?” Iris sat up on her elbows.

“Hey.” Lilliah lifted one hand in a small wave.

Iris’s eyes rested on her, recognition settled and she started to panic. She pushed off the floor, scrambling to get away from Lilliah.

“You.” She pointed when her back hit the wall. “I saw you! I saw you in my dream. Wh-what are you?” She pulled her knees up to her chest, her body shaking.

“I’m Lilliah.” She took a small step forward but stopped when Iris flinched. “We won’t hurt you, I promise. I just need your help.”

“Help?” Iris said the word as though it disgusted her. “What are you?”

“She’s an angel.” Rebecca stood. The soft voice she’d been using earlier was long gone. “And you’re a psychic.”

Iris snorted. “You’re both crazy. I want you to leave. ”

Lilliah scowled at the side of Rebecca’s head and turned back to Iris. “We’re really not here to harm you. I just need your help. I’m sorry we lied to you before.”

Iris’s eyes lost their shine and grew sad. She stopped shaking. “So everything you said about my family—they were all lies too, right? Just to get in my house so you could steal from me or something?”

The look on her face made Lilliah want to crumble. “I’m so sorry we lied to you.” Her words sounded juvenile, but they were all she had. “But I swear to you, we can talk to someone who really does know about your family. He’ll know everything, and if he doesn’t, he can find out.”

Lilliah saw a glimpse of hope flicker in Iris’s eyes, but it was gone as fast as it had appeared.

“No.” Iris sounded stronger. “I want you to leave—now.”

Deflated, Lilliah headed for the door.

“You’re a psychic,” Rebecca said from behind her. Lilliah turned to see that Rebecca hadn’t moved. Rebecca took a small step forward. “Did you know that?”

“I’m not a psychic.” Slowly, Iris dropped her legs and sat up a little straighter. “You’re crazy. Both of you.”

Lilliah knew what Iris was feeling—the disbelief, the shock, the glimmer of hope that after spending all of your life feeling ordinary that you could be something more. Azrael had told her the truth, and she guessed he had done a better job of it than they were doing here. Of course, Lilliah had been attacked before she had been told about her true nature. She had seen with her own eyes that magical beings existed.

“So,” Lilliah said, a thought just occurring to her, “nothing strange has ever happened to you?”

Iris frowned.

“Nothing out of the ordinary?”

Something flashed across Iris’s eyes, something Lilliah couldn’t place.

“Because strange things happened to me before I knew.” Lilliah walked forward until she was shoulder to shoulder with Rebecca. “I thought I was going crazy.”

Rebecca snorted. “That’s an understatement. She started seeing things and walking into oncoming traffic.”

“You see things too?” Iris slowly stood, her gaze fixed firmly on Lilliah.

“Not anymore.” Iris’s shoulders deflated, so Lilliah continued. “But it seems I can shoot some kind of fire out of my hands.”

Rebecca snickered. “Great. Now you sound even crazier. How did Azrael explain everything to you?”

Iris flinched at the mention of Azrael. Lilliah and Rebecca eyed each other.

“You’ve heard of him?” Lilliah asked.

Iris gave a jerky nod.

“He’s my boyfriend, and he’s in a lot of trouble. We’re all in a lot of trouble. That’s why we’re here. You might be able to help us get him back.”

“It’s not just for her boyfriend,” Rebecca pointed out. “I mean, Lilliah could get another boyfriend. It’s a little bit bigger than—Wait, what’s wrong?”

Iris was looking down at the floor, and then her eyes lifted to Lilliah. “Your name is Lilliah?”

“Yes, and this is Rebecca. I have a boyfriend called Azrael and a brother called—”

“Sebastian,” Iris finished, her eyes filling with tears. “I can’t believe this is happening.” She shot past them and headed for the kitchen. “It can’t all be real. It has to be in my head.”

Rebecca and Lilliah watched her open a few cupboards and then pour herself a glass of water.

“They said this would get worse, but I didn’t think it would be like this. This feels so real.”

She walked back into the living room, holding her glass of water and a container full of pills.

“Whoa!” Lilliah held out her hands. “This is real. We’re not imaginary. All of this is real.”

“Yeah,” Rebecca jumped in. “Let’s not start popping pills. Just take deep breaths.”

“This can’t be real. Do you know why?” she asked Lilliah, who shook her head. “Because I’ve been hearing your name for as long as I can remember. Every single time I’ve had a fit, or a vision, it’s been in my head. That’s why I have to take these!” She held up her pills and then fell onto the sofa between Rebecca and Lilliah.

“But this is real.” Lilliah sat next to her on the sofa and took Iris’s hand in hers. “Feel my hand. I’m real.”

“No,” Iris whispered. “You can’t be real. I’m crazy.”

“Sorry to break it to you, honey, but we’re all crazy. In this world filled with witches, warlocks, angels, and vampires, you kind of have to be,” Rebecca said.

Iris’s mouth hung open, her eyes darting around the room, looking anywhere but at Lilliah and Rebecca.

“My friend really isn’t doing a great job at explaining this.” Lilliah rubbed the back of her neck. If she only had the right words, she could comfort the girl somehow and reassure her that everything would be okay, but everything she said seemed to make Iris more upset.

Lilliah gave Iris’s hand a squeeze. Then she heard someone walking in the hallway outside.

“I have an idea.” Lilliah stood and headed for the door. “If we’re not real, then no one else will be able to see us, right?”

Iris gave her one nod, and Lilliah opened the door. An elderly man had just walked past.

“Excuse me,” she called out, staying where Iris could see her.

“Yes?” The man turned and walked back to her.

“Hi.” She looked over to Iris to make sure she was seeing this. “Do you know my friend Iris?”

The elderly man peered into the apartment, looking a little bewildered.

“I’m afraid I don’t, no. But can I help you with anything?”

“No, that’s all. Sorry to disturb you.”

Lilliah walked back into the apartment and shut the door.

“See.” She smiled triumphantly.

“That was Mr. Grove,” Iris said, looking at the closed door. “We’ve been neighbours for two years, and he didn’t know me.”

“Well then, when we leave, go and knock on everyone’s doors and make friends,” Rebecca suggested. “On the bright side, there was this one girl who knew you. A small redhead we spoke with downstairs. She was a bitch, but she knew your name.”

“Probably Macie.” Iris nervously tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “She’s probably the only person in this entire building who I don’t want to know my name.”

Rebecca smirked. “As I said, she was a bitch.”

Lilliah walked over to sit back beside Iris. “He spoke to us, though,” she reminded her softly. “We’re real and not made up in that head of yours.”

Iris took in a deep breath but didn’t speak.

“You’ve heard my name before, right? And Azrael’s and Sebastian’s?”

Iris nodded.

“How?” Lilliah pressed.

“Ever since I was little, I’ve had these weird dreams.” She took in another shaky breath. “They started off just at night, but then I started getting them during the day too.”

Lilliah and Rebecca listened intently.

“The foster home I was living in sent me to this psychologist and a whole bunch of doctors. They all said that the trauma from losing my parents had affected me.”

“How did you lose your parents?” Rebecca asked.

“They left me on church steps when I was born. I never knew them. I know, right? Church steps. How original.”

“How horrible, you mean.” Rebecca reached over and rubbed Iris’s arm.

Iris stared down at Rebecca’s hand. Slowly, she pulled her arm away and held it close to her body as if nursing a wound. “They said that’s why I imagine the things I do, because I see the church as a bad place, a place where I was left alone.”

“What do you see?” Lilliah sat forward.

“Just stuff. Most of it doesn’t even make sense, but it always has strong ties to religion and faith. But it’s not like you’d imagine. The people I see, angels or whatever, aren’t all in white or anything. They look normal. And most of the time, they’re fighting.”

Lilliah nodded, Iris was seeing Heaven all right. Lilliah remembered the disappointment she had felt after seeing Heaven when she was made to re-live her past lives. She found it a little disturbing that Heaven wasn’t all white clouds and halos. Everyone had been fighting, stabbing each other in the back. In fact, it had been a lot like Earth.

Iris looked at Lilliah. “They talk about you. A
lot
. They talk about war and Lucifer and Azrael. They talk so much and I hear it all, but they don’t hear me. It’s like I’m not really there or something.” Her face suddenly hardened. “Like I said, I’m crazy.”

“No.” Lilliah shook her head, her eyes filled with pity. “You’re not crazy. You saw Heaven and angels. I know it might seem like the craziest thing now, but it’s not. I saw Heaven too. I know what it’s like up there.”

“I’ve got schizophrenia and depression. I get anxiety when it’s dark, but that’s when I hear the voices most. That’s why I moved to Las Vegas, because it’s never really dark here.”

Lilliah wanted to lean over and hug her so badly, but she doubted after a lifetime of suffering that a hug would do anything.

“Your family is the only one that can talk to angels,” Rebecca said. She tapped Lilliah on the shoulder. “Not angels like Lilliah, of course, because, well, she’s here. But angels up in Heaven. That’s amazing. I get that you’ve always seen this gift as a curse, but here’s your chance to see things differently.”

Iris was looking at Rebecca, who was staring down at the pills in her hand.

“You’ll have some time to think about it in the car, anyway.” Rebecca stood. “We need to pick Sebastian up from the airport.”